In 1628, Elisabeth Strouven founded the hospital 'CalvariŽnberg'. It was the beginning of the
hospital we have today. The founding was just in time, for after a couple of years pestilence
prevailed.
Meanwhile the 'war that lasted eighty years' between Spain and the Netherlands continued.
In 1632, the 'Conqueror of Cities' Frederik Hendrik occupied Maastricht too, after a siege that
lasted several weeks. This was a masterpiece of warriorship, for Maastricht was among the most
fortified bastions of Europe. In the picture you see the Spaniards leaving the city.
The Dutch Protestants who now reigned Maastricht in co-operation with the prince-bishop of Liege,
respected the rights of the Catholics in theory, but not in practice. Therefore, the good
father Vinck
tolerated that a plot was laid, with his privity, to let the Spaniards reconquer the city
(see 'pater Vinck' in this website). The plot was unmasked and the participants were beheaded
(pater Vinck too).
Now a few decades of suppression followed. The Francican friars and the Jesuits were banned out
of the town.